Unfettered Letters

911 for caring pros

On a recent Sunday, we had occasion to fear for a loved one’s safety and called 911 (for the first time) for help.

Emergency responders arrived immediately and treated us with caring and professionalism. The situation ended well, and we’ll never forget how much it helped during the “anxious time” to have 911 people doing their best to see that it turned out with a positive result.

Rose Marie Warner
Kearney, Mo.

Death penalty in U.S.

Contrary to what some people might think, the death penalty is not immoral. Taking the life of another person deserves a greater punishment than incarceration, and by executing the ones responsible it prevents them from repeating the same crime.

It is wrong for us to simply imprison someone for murder, when the same punishment is being handed out for much lesser crimes. A human life is much more valuable than any material item.

Locking murderers up in an air-conditioned facility, giving them three meals a day, personal recreation time and family visits is a “slap in the face of morality,” says Casey Carmical, author of Ethics of Capital Punishment.

Some will claim that the death penalty is in violation of the Eighth Amendment, but it is not. To claim that cruel and unusual punishment references the death penalty would be ridiculous.

Sydney Buckley
Lee’s Summit

Arab Spring dawning on U.S. shores?

As we are watching the Arab Spring with admiration sweeping throughout the Middle East from Tunisia to Cairo, Tripoli to Damascus and Sana’a, we are seeing that they have one thing in common: People are seeking a major change.

They are saying enough is enough. You cannot keep lying to us. We can no longer accept being absent from the decision-making.

Now in Europe it looks like something is going on. And we see in New York City.

It’s what could become an Arab Spring coming to the United States this fall or winter. There might be a reason for this.

The economy does not look good at all. We take our country to wars based on lies, and no one is held accountable.

People’s interests are absent when a decision is made in Washington, D.C. Elections seem to produce nothing but the same results.

Big corporations are having more influence over the decisions. Is it time for the Arab Spring to arrive here in the United States? I am not sure.

Ahmed El-Sherif
Leawood

Gays merit U.S. rights

Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are what the Declaration of Independence offers as “unalienable rights.” This might be true for most Americans but not all.

Life? Not for many homosexuals. Once they come out, they risk falling victim to a murderous hate crime. They risk facing bullies — which can lead to suicide.

Liberty? Forget about freedom. Homosexuals are denied a number of rights.

Pursuit of happiness? How can gay people be happy when they’re told they can’t marry who they love? Perhaps the Bible does say homosexual relationships are wrong or unnatural, or that homosexuals are inhuman. But in the Bible, there are more than 200 allusions to heterosexual people doing wrong. Homosexuals’ “wrong-doings” are mentioned fewer than 20 times.

According to the Bible, and the Defense of Marriage Act, marriage can be defined as a unity between a man and a woman. The last time I checked, our laws were not supposed to be influenced by the Bible. What happened to the separation of church and state?

Homosexual and bisexual people are human, just as every heterosexual person is. They should be treated as such and given the same rights as others.

Payton Haen
Lee’s Summit

Pledge truly American

The Pledge of Allegiance is an American tradition and should remain the same, regardless of the fact that it contains the phrase, “under God.” The Pledge should pay respect to the freedom of religion given to us in the First Amendment.

Never is religion forced upon anyone. One God isn’t specified in the Pledge. This means it shall appeal to anyone who chooses to believe in a god. It represents the tradition and the early religious roots of this country.

No one is forced to say the Pledge of Allegiance. Everyone can choose to recite it, just as they can choose to be religious or not. This goes back to the fact that we must respect one another and our freedom of religion.

Some will argue that “under God, indivisible,” is contradictory because it immediately divides those who do and don’t believe in a God. If America was truly divided, how are we still a country functioning very well?

So please, respect those with different views and respect the fact that we are blessed to live in a country that has the freedom to believe or not believe in what we choose.

Isabella Bowling
Blue Springs

Congress applauds

Private corporations absorb a lot of flak from Congress and the public as well. But here’s a question to mull over: How many federal financial regulators or members of Congress could hold a job without getting fired immediately if they were running a private corporation?

The condition of this country gives you your answer.

Joe F. Dragosh
Independence

Occupy Wall Street

I wonder about these folk who are engaged in the Occupy Wall Street protests. What do they expect to happen?

I wonder how many of these well intentioned individuals will either not vote in our upcoming elections or vote these same characters back into office again.

It’s kind of like my professor asked a classmates during one of the computer classes: “If it didn’t work the first five times, what makes you think it’ll work this time?”

I suggest we all vote against anyone who is currently in office because I see no improvements from the Democrats, and I certainly do not see any improvement from the Republicans we put in Congress during the last election.

Paul R. Koontz Sr.
Spring Hill

Representative government for whom?

For some time I’ve been struggling with what it means to live in a democracy where there is a representative style of government. However, as I watch our elected officials of both parties, knowing that most of them are relatively wealthy and see how large, tax-free corporations help line their pockets, I think I now have a far better understanding of what representative government is really all about.

In the meantime, we had best learn how to take better care of ourselves.

Warren R. Smith
Ottawa, Kan.

Facts, not fiction

It’s incredible. The Republican noise machine grinds out the same old story line, and Americans fail to think for themselves.

We live in a day and age where actual facts are at our fingertips, but it’s easier to repeat a prefab opinion because it suits our need to fit in at church, at work or at a family gathering.

I’ve had friends and family (all great folks, I think) tell me some of the dumbest things that they’ve heard from someone else, or buck me some mindless email that someone else sent them. You know, Joe from church forwards an email with “You need to see this,” or “Forward this to all of your friends if you love America.”

Then you look at the email and it’s intended to be inflammatory, but if you verify the facts it’s pure political hate and baloney.

I know it’s hard, but it’s time to think for yourself. America can come together and solve its problems, but only if we agree upon the facts.

I’ll start: The Twin Towers were not blown up by the government. Obama was born in Hawaii.

John Meyer
Blue Springs

Student loan waste

Have student loans become another government giveaway (10/27, A1, “A calculated effort”)? Years ago when we were teaching and banks handled most of the loans, the money rarely covered tuition, books and dorm expenses.

I asked several parents last week if student loan money was available to the students for other uses, and they said, “Yes, even for spring break trips.” One mother said she asked the college to quit giving her daughter so much money, and the college refused.

She said the parents can’t even be informed of their child’s loan amount because of privacy laws. That is a recipe for disaster and waste.

According to The Star, President Obama is accelerating the “Pay as You Earn” plan, whereby the cap on monthly loan payments will be lowered from 15 percent to 10 percent of a student’s discretionary income. Just what is “discretionary income?”

Student loans would be forgiven under the new plan if not repaid in 20 years (10 years for public service workers). What are “public service workers?” Perhaps politicians and community organizers? Return student loans to the private sector and reduce the waste.

Dorothy Grove
Polo, Mo.